A question I get asked a lot by friends and fellow paraglider pilots is how my training is going.

My answer most of the time is good, getting there…

What does my training for the Red Bull X-Alps entail.

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Prior to having received the news that I have been selected, I was just working on my base fitness level and following the Tim Noakes Ultra Marathon training program combined with some strength training and some swimming in the pool as cross training.

Upon receiving the news that I got selected I decided that I definitely had to up my game and with the help of the guys at the High Performance Centre at the Sport Science Institute in Cape Town I am now on this Red Bull X-Alps specific training program.

The program basically consists of five cycles and a taper for just before the race. At first glance it seemed like a relatively easy program until I got deep into the first cycle. The combination of the specific full body training and running really takes it out of me. Not too mention the hill repeats, the thing that I currently hate the most. I have to run uphill at maximum effort or max heart rate and then walk down and repeat. You basically feel like throwing up every time you do it. At least I can do it in the beautiful surrounds of the Table Mountain National Park.

Please see cycle One and Two of my training program so far. This obviously excludes my warm up, stretching and mountain hikes with all my paragliding equipment. Besides the training, I also fly every single day that it is possible to fly.

Stephan is the owner of Fly Cape Town Paragliding. He is an avid tandem, competition and aerobatics paragliding pilot He loves to share the joy of paragliding flight with anyone who is keen...He is also a qualified paragliding instructor and a paragliding endurance athlete.